


Night of Fate

by tatersalad5001



Series: Reconnect [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Spoilers - Undertale Neutral Route, Undertale Neutral Route - Near Genocide Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-15 18:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7234534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, you're the one that killed all my friends. I just called to tell you. I hate you. God, I miss everyone. Now that they're gone, it feels so clear what I should've done. What I should have said. You know, just daydreaming here. But I really should have killed you when I had the chance.</p>
<p>(It would be the end of the human's time in the Underground, but only the beginning for those who had to suffer the consequences.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> As always, this story is part of the Reconnect timeline. All of these stories are part of a series, but that doesn't mean you have to read them all. Each can be read independently, and if you choose to read them all, they can be read in any order. Before now, there was no real order to Reconnect. This story takes place before the others in the timeline, but it doesn't change the others. All the rest can take place in any order you want to imagine.
> 
> I don't entirely remember why I started this. I think I wanted to take a break from something else, and I think that I wanted to explore Sans and Alphys' separate perspectives on the events in the game of the Near Genocide timeline. That exploration got really long, but it's here all the same, I guess. Enjoy

It never snowed in Snowdin. It was cold, sure, and snow blanketed the entire area. It never melted, but nothing ever added to it, either.

That is, of course, until today. White powder fell all over the place, blending in with everything else. Most monsters wouldn't think much of it. Most monsters wouldn't even notice a difference. But two monsters did see it, and they knew better. That white powder wasn't snow. It was dust. Monster dust, from monsters dying everywhere. Not just one or two, but just about every monster who liked to stray outside of town during the day. And both monsters that saw knew who did it.

A human had shown up in the Underground just earlier. The last one needed to break the barrier, the hope of all monsters. There was no way that was just coincidence.

The two monsters noticed all of this independently. Neither had talked to the other for some time now. So it was Sans who ran into them first.

Without missing a beat, he snuck up behind them and greeted them with the whoopie cushion trick. The oldest trick in the bag, and his favorite way to make a first impression on someone new. It usually got a laugh, or even a grimace if the victim didn't appreciate his humor. But this human gave no reaction at all. No smile, no groans, nothing. If anything, they might've been a bit annoyed. But he brushed it off. Maybe they'd heard that one before. Or maybe they just didn't have much of a sense of humor.

Figuring they wouldn't want to be caught, he tried to hide them from view when Papyrus came along. But they refused to go along with it. They stood there, let themselves be seen. It worked in their favor, but the whole thing didn't stop there. Every puzzle along the way, every jape, every joke, they just walked through it. Never reacting once. That all started setting off alarms in his thoughts, and then he found the dust.

It was all over the place. From where he and Papyrus first met the human together, to Greater Dog's station filled with snow poffs, there was no end to it. And the further the human went, the quieter the forest seemed to get. Usually around this time of day, the whole place was brimming with life. From rebellious teenagers running amuck, to tired adults just wanting a break from life, they were all out here. But not today, and the dust told him why.

It all accumulated, until the human arrived at the suspension bridge. The final puzzle, and one of Papyrus' favorites. It was popular with the teens too, since kids loved deadly spikes and the like. Yet, of course, the human still gave no reaction. They simple didn't care. It sucked all the fun out of the whole ordeal, so the puzzle was put away. And Papyrus left, preparing for the final confrontation to capture the human. But Sans stayed behind.

Since he'd met them, their face had betrayed nothing. They barely spoke, too. But the way they shambled about, the dust covering their hands, the way they carried the toy knife in their hand...it spoke volumes. He had no doubts he was looking at the cause of all the dust covering Snowdin.

He wouldn't be surprised if they had left the Ruins a dust-covered _ruin_ of what it once was. Heh.

It left him worried about the old lady he'd befriended there, though.

He still hadn't left, so they confronted him, demanding to know why he'd stuck around. He quipped at them about how he and his brother could have fun without their help. They really weren't the life of the party. And he almost left it at that. But they were giving him a weird look, almost expecting more, and if they wanted more? Hell, he'd certainly give it to them.

"*say, i've been thinking. seems like you're gonna fight my brother pretty soon." He looked off towards where Papyrus had left for a moment, before turning back to them. "*here's some friendly advice. if you keep going the way you are now..."

Sans paused, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, there was nothing there to look at. It was the most frightening look he could manage. He hoped it unsettled them as he delivered the final line.

"*you're gonna have a bad time."

And he vanished. As much as he hated it, he couldn't interfere in Papyrus' big fight. His brother would never let him hear the end of it. All he could do was wait. When he went out to check on things a few minutes later, there was nothing there but more dust. No one was there. He wasn't really that surprised.

It didn't hurt any less, though. Boy, did it hurt. He'd rather have lost his right arm than lose the most important person in his life.

He made himself scarce after that. He wasn't far behind the human, hoping more than anything they'd change their ways. But it kept up. It was pointless keeping tabs on them even before they left Waterfall, so he left himself.

Not too far into all of this was when Alphys started paying attention.

She didn't witness anything in person, of course. The human was still at the edge of Snowdin, and she was all the way in Hotland. She saw everything through the cameras that she had set up all over the place in the Underground. It took awhile for her to realize something was happening, since she didn't pay close attention all the time. Once she noticed the human, however, she didn't look away.

With her cameras, she had an inside view to the human when no one else was there to witness their actions. She saw every decision they made, every action they took. And she saw quite a few monsters die herself, watched their dust fall to the ground and blend in with the snow. There wasn't room for doubt in her mind, because she saw everything herself. The human was clearly responsible.

They needed to be stopped. But she wasn't capable of stopping them. In a situation like this, she was completely useless. Nothing she did could change anything. Alphys wasn't some kind of warrior, and she definitely wasn't any good at fighting. All she did was make silly robots, watch some dumb human shows, and make mistakes. Even if she tried to do something, she'd probably end up making things worse. Watching was all she could do. Well, that and waiting for the end. Hoping that it'd be over for her soon, too.

Then, Undyne called her.

Papyrus wouldn't answer his phone, and he hadn't checked in for his report. There was no word from Snowdin's canine unit, either. But that hadn't meant that Undyne had heard nothing. Monsters had fled the town of Snowdin long before the human had gotten there, and word had travelled fast. She'd assumed the worse, and it was Alphys' displeasure to confirm it with her. And since that was the case, Undyne said there was only one thing to do. The human needed to be stopped, and she'd be the one to do it herself.

Knowing how dangerous the human was, Alphys hated to go along with it. But Undyne was always up for the challenge. Undyne believed she could take on the human and win, and Alphys believed her. She wanted to believe her, she had to believe her. Undyne had to get through this okay, she had to come home safe. They discussed their plans, and then Undyne was off. Alphys promised to watch every second of the fight, and she did. In any other situation, if the human that fell hadn't been so... _violent_ , maybe she wouldn't have paid so much attention. She might've missed it altogether. But she had to see, had to make sure of the outcome. Undyne would be fine. She swallowed her doubt and focused on the battle.

Alphys was almost sick as she watched Undyne melt. She didn't care about the evidence that a monster could naturally produce their own determination. The idea of caring about that itself made herself feel even worse. All that mattered was Undyne was gone. Their plan had failed. And now she was left alone to try to protect what was left.

Well, not completely alone...

She told Mettaton to flee to safety in the lab's basement while she tried to get everyone else to gather down there. He refused. Something about having other monsters he needed to protect. She didn't really process the whole thing, and as terrible as it was, didn't really care. He offered himself as a distraction, buying more time while she went to go get everyone else. Still upset after watching Undyne die, and not wanting to argue, she let him do whatever he wanted. He stayed in the lab, and she left to save as many monsters as she could.

A few monsters, when warned of the danger, stayed put. Loyal members of the Royal Guard who wanted to help defend against the human, a spider that didn't seem to believe her, some assorted monsters that were determined to put up a fight. But most heeded her instructions and ran to the lab as fast as they could. Alphys did her own part to try to hinder the human, too. She left a few pathways on the elevators through Hotland to let more monsters flee to safety, but locked up the rest. The elevators were the main means of navigation, so it would certainly slow the human down. She knew better than to hope it'd stop them completely; she was the Underground's expert on humans' determination, after all. They'd find a way.

When the human reached the Core, it was a pretty good indicator that anyone who wasn't at the lab had encountered them earlier. Alphys shut everything down and stayed with everyone in the True Lab. This had its own set of drawbacks, mainly the amalgamates. It didn't take long at all for the other monsters to find them, but Alphys knew before she went into action that she'd have to come clean. If she could save even a handful of monsters, it would be worth it, even if they hated her after learning the truth. She expected some backlash, or something to happen at least, but no one seemed horribly upset. They mostly just appreciated her honesty and the fact that she tried. In fact, between trying to find a way to escape the Underground and bringing everyone to the Lab, most of them regarded her as some kind of hero.

It was a bit much for her, but she was grateful for their support and kind words. She resolved to do her best for them, even with all the feelings she was trying to deal with with so many monsters being gone now.

Being stuck in the basement didn't stop her from monitoring the human's progress. Her phone was hooked up to the system of cameras as well, so she was still able to watch everything. She missed a lot of what had happened while they were in Hotland, since she was busy herself. But most of the Core was...actually uneventful. They completely ignored the few monsters that were hanging around in there. It was a relief, honestly, to see someone being spared after so much fighting. Part of her wanted to scream, demand why it was those few spared instead of Undyne or her other friends. But it wouldn't do any good, so she controlled herself. She could be upset later, but not while everyone else was here.

Then, they reached Mettaton.

Mettaton put on a good show. Alphys was glad she could see his last performance. It was by far his best, but that was probably because the performance behind it was real. Mettaton had a family and others he really cared about, he didn't play up much of anything in that respect. He knew when he decided to do all this that it was unlikely he'd survive the encounter. Alphys had known, too. So for his last show, which only a handful of monsters got to see while crowded around a phone, he unveiled his finished body.

It was a wonder to see. She'd finished it herself just before the human had shown up, but she hadn't had the chance to actually see it in action. Despite the dire circumstances, she could tell from the others' reactions she'd gotten it perfect. Everything about it screamed Mettaton. It was his perfect body, made just for him. He'd originally been designed as a 'human killing machine' or something like that to appease King Asgore, and that was reflected in the final design. But it was everything he wanted, too, and she couldn't have done it better.

It only took one hit to take him down. That was more of a reflection of the human's LV and their intentions than the body itself. But Mettaton took it all in stride. As his soul faded and he crumbled into dust, he announced to the human that they weren't quite the monster they had made theirself out to be. They'd killed monsters, but the surface, the human world, was all safe. His final speech was stunning, and Alphys hoped it was one he was proud of as she watched him go. She'd miss him dearly, and she was still angry and upset over now his death too, but he had truly cemented his legacy as a star.

The human then went through New Home. The monsters there stayed well away, so everything was pretty uneventful. Once they reached Asgore's home, she couldn't see anything more. There weren't any cameras past that point. She could only hope that Asgore could put a stop to them. That, or they went quietly back to the surface, and didn't hurt anyone up there. She knew not all humans were as bad as this one.

Alphys couldn't see anything that happened past this point. Sans, however, had a front row seat.

The knife they were holding now was real. The dust wasn't just on their hands anymore, it coated their entire body. A faded old ribbon tied their hair back, keeping it out of their face so they could see better. It was obvious they hadn't changed their dirty brother killing ways. But there had been some survivors, someone at least had been spared. It was obvious from the way they carried themself. They stood up a little straighter, their hands a little calmer, less determined to fight anyone that came in their path.

Oh, they hadn't learned anything at all, he knew that. There was no remorse in their eyes, their tendency for violence hadn't changed. He could just see it in their posture, in their being. Someone's LV wasn't some number giving everyone's lives a numerical value, at least not to him. He just saw it in the way they looked, how they stood and walked. They hadn't gotten everyone.

He could see their LV. Now, it was time to judge.

"*over lv14, huh?" His eyes darkened. "*judgement-wise...you're a pretty bad person. you wander around, looking for people...killing them to take their money." The last few words he practically spat out. They tasted awful in his mouth just thinking about it, and it still was better now than when it had been happening, back in Snowdin. But he put a lid on his anger, he calmed down, and he laughed. "*that's just plain messed up."

It was a bitter, mournful laugh. This kid had killed almost everything he cared about. This tiny little kid. What a bad joke.

"*and what's worse, is that as bad as you are...you aren't anywhere near as bad as you could be. you pretty much suck at being evil."

And this was definitely true. He wouldn't waste a good joke on this human, not when they wouldn't appreciate it. He knew what they were capable of. And it made it so much more painful. This wasn't a bad joke, this was much worse than that.

He laughed again just thinking about it. The human could do so much worse, and they decided to go the evil route, but they didn't even go all out. The Underground wasn't even worth the effort to them. It was hilarious how bad they were.

"*honestly, it's super embarrassing. but maybe you'd be better...at not killing anyone? crazy idea, huh? let me know how that one goes."

It was an idea, but it was pointless. If the human was here, if they were having this conversation, there wasn't really any hope of persuading them. But he could still hope. He could beg, he could plead. Maybe next time, after the next reset, the human could leave them all be. And he could be there with everyone as happy as was possible for him, with no memory of this timeline at all. What a thought. He hoped it would work out.

He winked at them and disappeared once more. Sans didn't go far this time, just to the previous room. It'd be good to know what happened after, just in case. He didn't watch, but he stood by and listened.

King Asgore talked a lot. There was a long silence, then he talked again. There was an abrupt silence, and he assumed the king didn't make it. Then there was a different voice. Saying something about 'the souls rebelling again' or something like that. That couldn't be the human's voice, and he couldn't place it with anyone else. There were footsteps, then everything was quiet.

Sans dared to peek into the next room. A small blanket of dust sat on the floor. There were containers sitting out, probably for the human souls (they were the right size, and what else would be in them anyway?), but most were knocked over and the souls were gone. No one was in the room. And the barrier was very much intact, so the human hadn't broken the barrier or anything. He doubted anyone was coming back.

From what he'd gathered from the reports, this would be around how long a timeline would go on before everything stopped and happened again. He assumed a reset was imminent. So he didn't bother going anywhere else. An hour passed, two, going on three. He was still standing there, nothing had started over. With time that passed, doubts sprang back up. He wasn't sure if a reset was coming or not. But there was no point just waiting around anymore, regardless.

Yet, he didn't go to leave right away. Instead, his grief hit him all over again. Papyrus was gone. Undyne was probably gone. The old lady on the other side of the door was probably gone. Almost everyone was gone. He couldn't push all that away under idea that a reset would bring them back and erase his memories anymore. He couldn't be certain about any of that now, not when the timeline was still going, hours after the human had left. It was impossible to know how long they'd wait, if they'd reset at all. And in the meantime, everyone was still gone.

For the first time since the human had arrived, he let himself mourn.

After he was able to put himself together a bit, he decided it was time to leave. There wasn't a place to go to in mind, just a resolve to get out of where he was. Going home was out of the question. Being alone was certainly tempting, but it probably wasn't the best idea. The only idea he had was from the human's amount of LV. It had been above 14, but definitely lower than 20, which was the max. Monsters had survived, he just needed to find them.

The problem was, he didn't know who had survived. He'd stopped paying attention while the human was in Waterfall, assuming they wouldn't spare anyone. Somewhere between there and New Home, either they had spared some monsters, or the monsters had escaped a confrontation with them. Those monsters had probably fled, looking for a safe place to hide. Where was a safe place they could hide, somewhere the human couldn't get to them?

...

Of course, the shops. Undyne had told him something Gerson said something about that once, that it was impossible to get into a fight there. Gerson was probably still at his own, waiting it out. Nothing would scare him off.

So he took himself to Gerson's shop. And a few seconds later, he was standing in front of the old guy. He hadn't been to see Gerson in a long time; he usually had no reason to go, so visits were rare. They both agreed that it was nice to see each other, though they both wished it was under better circumstances. They also both were glad to see the other standing in one piece.

It was Gerson's knowledge about shops and the safety they provided that had kept him alive. The human had came in on their way through and tried to goad him into a fight, but he knew better. They could do nothing, and he was safe. He'd begrudgingly sold them some supplies, since he had no other choice as a shopkeeper. They'd left, and that had been the end of it. He'd stayed in the shop ever to ensure his safety. No one else had entered until Sans came.

Gerson's smart. If anyone had some idea of where the other monsters were, he did.

However, while he was stuck in his shop all day, he was out of the loop on the human's activities. Sans let him know that most monsters had been killed by the human, but a few had managed to survive. This was a bit of a surprise to Gerson. He hadn't held much hope for the fate of all monsters if no one had managed to stop the human. He was a bit anxious now, asking who had managed to survive. Sans had no idea, and he felt bad about it, but told him the truth. Gerson didn't seem to mind. He was glad for any information at all.

Now it was Sans' turn to ask questions. He knew that Gerson didn't know for sure where the other monsters were. If he did, he'd have known that there were survivors. He asked instead if he had an idea of where they would go, which would have to be in Waterfall or east from it. Gerson thought for a moment, and figured the best place was Alphys' lab. It was quite spacious, and Alphys had access to all sorts of security measures implemented in the Underground. She could easily block the human off from entering and keep everyone in there safe, or something like that. It was an assumption at best. But it gave Sans something to go off of.

Honestly, he should've thought of it sooner. He wasn't really thinking straight right now.

Sans thanked Gerson and left, since Gerson would have to pack his shop up before he could go anywhere. He took a few steps, and then he went to Hotland, at the entrance to Alphys' lab.

It really had been a long time, hadn't it? He sighed, and knocked on the door.

No response came from inside. Nothing could be heard going on inside at all, and he was trying not to take it as a bad sign. Usually there was something going on in there, and all sorts of strange noises could be heard, even from outside the lab. But then again, he had to put the situation into context. The human would have definitely interrupted Alphys' experiments whether she had noticed them before they reached Hotland or not. And if the other monsters were in there, she wouldn't be trying to draw too much attention to it. Plus, there was always the possibility that they weren't hiding in there after all. It made sense. But there was still no reply, and it was a little worrisome.

He knocked again, and waited a couple of minutes just in case. Just as he was about to consider leaving, he heard something run around inside. The door opened, and Alphys smiled sheepishly at him. She had, of course, known he was there and it was him, and not someone else. The wait had merely been a result of how long it took to move from the True Lab to the front door. Before he could say a word, she stuttered out an apology.

Before she could finish, he held up a hand to stop her. He really didn't mind the wait at all, now that he knew she was okay and the other monsters were here, too. She let him know just about how many monsters were in the lab. Two other monsters that weren't present could be accounted for as well, since ghosts couldn't be hurt by physical attacks and she'd seen a shopkeeper the human had bought food from at Mettaton's resort. He told her Gerson was alive, too. Overall, there weren't many monsters left, just a small fraction of the monsters that had been alive the day before.

Sans also reported the events that had taken place in the castle, or at least, what he'd assumed. King Asgore was dead, and the human had made it back to the surface. The human souls were gone. Alphys was definitely more upset than before knowing this, but she'd rather know for sure than try to guess. She thanked him, and he shrugged it off.

The human was gone for good, this was now a definite fact. Alphys let everyone else know, and the True Lab was emptied out. Everyone, including the amalgamates, went outside for more space. The lab was a bit cramped with so many monsters.

They also now knew that Asgore was gone. And while the kingdom's population had dropped dramatically, there were still plenty enough that someone needed to be in charge. Alphys started to suggest Sans be that someone, but he refused before she could finish. According to him, he was no good at that stuff. And everyone accepted this easily, since they didn't want to force someone unwillingly into the position. But the other monsters could think of only one other fit for the role, and that was Alphys.

She was surprised by this, of couse. She was still in the mindset that everyone would hate her for the things she'd done, and this was way more trust from them than she was expecting. And she certainly didn't believe she was up to the task. But everyone encouraged and supported her, and Sans told her he was more than willing to help if she wanted it. If everyone really believed in her, maybe she really could do it. She didn't want to let them all down, either. So she agreed, and that was that.

With that settled, everyone tried to figure out what to do next. But now that the imminent danger had passed, everyone's fear began to switch to grief for the fallen. Just about every monster had lost a loved one that day. No one could concentrate on the future, not yet. But for now, that was okay. They could figure out everything later. Refusing themselves time to mourn wasn't healthy, and they needed some time.

Alphys had figured that Sans wouldn't stick around for long. She was honestly surprised he hadn't disappeared yet. When she asked him about it, he sighed, and said he had nowhere else to go. There was nothing for him to go back to anymore. She didn't push him on it. Instead, she offered her lab to him, and said he could stay as long as he liked. He didn't want to intrude, but she insisted. He was the only close friend (or at least, a friend that had once been close) that she had left, and from the sounds of it, she was the same for him, so she didn't mind at all. After some convincing, he caved in. At least for a night.

There wasn't much else to be done, not now. The other monsters either went home, or found somewhere to stay for the night. No one left Hotland, since no one really wanted to be alone. This wasn't an issue, though, since there was plenty room there for everyone. It was convenient, yet it was a truth that made the reality of what happened even clearer. That night, they all tried to rest, but few were able to get much sleep.

Monsterkind would live on, but it'd be a long time before anyone recovered.

**Author's Note:**

> 'sans gave the wrong judgement, he should've given the dirty brother killer judgement instead' yeah, I know. This judgement just felt right, for some reason. So I took some creative liberty I guess
> 
> For some reason, I didn't want to have much actual dialogue in this one. This story just preferred...describing conversations, rather than writing them out fully, so I just went with it. I don't know anymore. I'm tired and overheated so just take it.
> 
> Though, a fun bit of trivia. The series name itself is inspired by Kingdom Hearts, and since this story takes place first chronologically, I wanted to do the same for this story's name.


End file.
